MENA Countries Rank Low In EIU Democracy Index

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains the most repressive region in the world, with 16 out of 20 countries categorized as authoritarian by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In its Democracy Index 2010 report, the UK-based think-tank says that over the past two years the trend has been to backslide on progress in democratization across all regions. Authoritarian trends have become even more entrenched in the Middle East. The regional average declined from an already very low 3.54 in 2008 to 3.43 in 2010, almost a point below the next lowest scoring region, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Israel is the only democracy in the region, albeit a flawed democracy, and ranks 37th globally. Lebanon tops the Arab world with a score of 5.82, slightly higher than the score registered in 2008. “The only improvement of any note between 2008 and 2010 occurred in Kuwait, which rose by 15 places in the global rankings to 114th,” says the report. Iran’s global rank fell 13 places to 158th between 2008 and 2010. The democracy index scores and ranks of the Palestinian Territories, Sudan and Yemen also declined. Globally, Norway ranks first with a 9.80 score whereas North Korea comes last of the 167 countries covered by the index.

“The reasons for this decline are complex and varied,” says the EIU, adding that the global financial crisis that started in 2008 accentuated some existing negative trends in political development. The index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories. The EIU’s Index of Democracy is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Countries are placed within one of four types of regimes: full democracies; flawed democracies; hybrid regimes; and authoritarian regimes.

MENA Countries: Democracy Index 2008 And 2010

2010

overall score

Rank

2008

overall score

Rank

Difference in scores

between

2010 and 2008

Israel

7.48

37

7.48

38

0.00

Lebanon

5.82

86

5.62

89

0.20

Palestine

5.44

93

5.83

85

-0.38

Iraq

4.00

111

4.00

116

0.00

Kuwait

3.88

114

3.39

129

0.49

Morocco

3.79

116

3.88

120

-0.09

Jordan

3.74

117

3.93

117

-0.19

Bahrain

3.49

122

3.38

130

0.11

Algeria

3.44

125

3.32

133

0.12

Qatar

3.09

137

2.92

144

0.18

Egypt

3.07

138

3.89

119

-0.82

Oman

2.86

143

2.98

140

-0.13

Tunisia

2.79

144

2.96

141

-0.17

Yemen

2.64

146

2.95

142

-0.32

UAE

2.52

148

2.60

147

-0.07

Sudan

2.42

151

2.81

146

-0.38

Syria

2.31

152

2.18

156

0.13

Libya

1.94

158

2.00

159

-0.06

Iran

1.94

158

2.83

145

-0.89

Saudi Arabia

1.84

160

1.90

161

-0.06

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.

Copyright MEES 2011.